Queen of the Yesterdays
by yamada michiko
Summary: "Because it doesn't matter how two people are torn apart. Even if one of them loses memories, there is always a heart. If they are meant to be; then they really are meant to be." (ON HIATUS)
1. Chapter 1

_**So… this is my first time writing a KnB fanfiction.**_

 _ **To those who were waiting for an update for my other Chihayafuru fanfic, - wait a minute, calm down dammit, put those knives away – let me explain. I am not giving up on that one, but I am experiencing a major writer's block for it. I am trying to write decent paragraphs for it, but I just end up deleting it, feeling that it has not nothing to do with the entire fic. If you are also an author, you will understand what I am talking about.**_

 _ **On the other hand, I have always been a fan of KnB, and my absolute KnB baes are Akashi Seijuro and Kasamatsu Yukio. Which tells you a lot that I am greatly attracted to Point Guards. Not sure why, but it's probably because of the fact that they are the brains of the team, and I simply adore men with brains. Heck, I have a crush on Izuki Shun as well, though not that comparable to the first two I mentioned above.**_

 _ **The quote at the beginning of the story is not mine, obviously, it belongs to some Asian drama I've seen before and I felt it appropriate to use here. I'm just borrowing it.**_

 _ **That said, we can proceed to the fic itself. I do not own KnB, but I do own my OC. Please do not use her and the plot of this fic without my knowledge, because I promise you, in true Akashi style, "I will end you."**_

 _ **On that happy note, feel free to read on.**_

* * *

 _I have been granted permission to become a doctor._

 _I humbly vow to give my life to serve humanity._

 _The health and life of my patients is my priority._

 _I will fulfill my duties to my patients… regardless of their race, religion, or nationality._

 _I shall not use my knowledge inhumanely… even when I am under threat._

 _I hereby take this oath on my account…. and on behalf of my honor._

* * *

She was exhausted.

Well, that was nothing new. Working in a hospital was never a walk in the park. Whoever said that being a doctor was easy? She would like to kick that person in the shin and tell him to go to hell.

She absent-mindedly rubbed on the sleeve of her white coat, which had a smudge of blood. The emergency abdominal surgery which she had to lead earlier had been successful, although there had been a few scares. One of her assistant surgeons accidentally pulled on the wrong nerve, almost resulting in the patient's loss of proper digestion. It might sound laughable, but it was no laughing matter. One wrong touch to a person's precious internal organs will cost them all their careers – and that person's life.

She stared blankly at the pristine, white wall in front of her, not really seeing anything in particular, fingers curled tightly around the cup of coffee she was holding, the white styrofoam material nearly bending with the force. She knew how she was too exhausted to even think properly, but this was different. She was quite aware of how long she was staring at the wall now, but her thoughts were a jumbled mess, just a dense, swirling dark cloud in her head. It was almost alarming, she thought, at the back of her mind. Her thoughts had never gotten this cloudy before.

And then all of a sudden, there was a blinding flash of light.

Her grip on the cup of coffee disappeared and the cup plummeted towards the floor as she clutched her head, suddenly feeling as if the world was spinning and the walls were closing in on her. It was fortunate that she had finished the cup of coffee long ago, but now she felt was if someone had taken her brains out and was frying it in a microwave.

She can hear voices… everywhere. Growing louder and louder as if they were closing in on her. A gaggle of different voices, some shouting what she could hear were instructions, to move her gently, in case they wanted to break her neck.

Huh?

And then a deep, baritone voice. Panicked. Lonely.

Precious.

She was gasping, her chest tightening, feeling that she was beginning to hyperventilate or something. Her vision was still spinning, and she could feel herself beginning to be drenched in sweat. Oh. This was not good, - _I have to do something, anything, I can't breathe, Jesus, I can't breathe, kami-sama –_

"Shhh. Shhh. Masakochii. I'm here. Look at me. Look at me."

In her panic, she lifted her head so fast with one of her fists aimed straight towards his face, but the man who called her blocked her fist easily, unfazed, concern written clearly across his face and golden eyes. Like a welcome oxygen, said woman turned to the man who had found her and she had not noticed had already sat beside her, grasping her shoulders, trying to get her attention and possibly comfort her as she went through another episode of a memory loss attack. Panicked and confused tears pooled in her eyes, and she couldn't stop herself from launching straight into his arms, the man's arms immediately circling her shoulders and pressing her to his body in a gesture meant for assurance and comfort.

"Masakochii." He murmured softly, rubbing her back in circles. "Why do you keep wanting to loiter in an empty area like this? If I didn't know you well and I didn't know this was your favorite place, you would have the worst case of hyperventilation earlier." He chided softly, running a comforting hand against her chocolate brown tresses, as she tried her best to breathe evenly and calm down, still clinging to her best friend with a death grip, arms shaking and straining with the effort. He was trying to distract her from her current predicament, she could just tell.

"Ryo-kun." She half-laughed, half-complained, torn between the two emotions, struggling to stop the panic tears from escaping her eyes any longer and not continue acting pathetically in front of the blond ex-model. "You didn't tell me you're already home." She loosened her grip from the taller male, noticing how he was bent towards her tight embrace, the fact that they were sitting not doing anything to negate the difference in their heights.

"I was thinking of surprising you, since I just came home from a flight." He responded, tone worried, finally releasing her fully to get a good look at her, golden orbs scanning her much smaller and frail form. "I wanted to say 'Tadaima' but when I found you I was not expecting you to be like this." His forehead creased. "Masakochii. I have just disappeared for a month and yet you look like this. Why are you so thin? And you're still having these attacks – "

She held up a hand to silence his rant, effectively cutting him off. "First off, Kise Ryota, I'm not thin, I'm _sexy_. And as for these attacks…" he could see her hands still shaking as she struggled to gather her thoughts currently in disarray that he decided to take her hands in his stronger ones and squeezed them, "They're… they're more frequent now. I'm not even sure why."

Ryota frowned, not liking what he was hearing. "Please don't tell me you're forcing yourself to remember them."

"No, no, that's not the case – "

"Don't lie to me, Aoyama Masako. If you're not forcing yourself to remember the last year you wouldn't be having these attacks all of a sudden." He stood up, giving her a look, challenging her to deny what he was saying.

She pouted, her lower lip pushing forward a bit. "…Maybe."

"Thought so."

She frowned. "Is there anything wrong with me trying to remember the missing part of my life? It's irritating, Ryota, feeling as if I'm missing a chip or something!" She was exasperated, but he was even more exasperated.

"You know better than to go against your medical advice, Masakochii. Hell, do I have to remind you you're a doctor yourself?" He retorted, sounding frustrated despite of himself. "I don't know how it feels to be missing a part or something, but I can say one thing – you have to be patient unless you want those memories to completely disappear." His statement came out harsher than he had originally intended to.

Masako stared at him, unable to believe that the ex-Miracle was scolding her. _Him_ , of all people. This was not how she had envisioned their reunion will be.

"No, I'm not taking that back." He continued, as if reading her thoughts, which she guessed, was not exactly a difficult task for the former Kaijo Ace. Kise Ryota, in all the years she has known him, despite being a narcissist and downright _impossible_ person was not the type who didn't know how to observe people around him. "But I'll let it go for now, because I just came home and went here immediately to see you, not to argue with you. I missed my best friend, and I just wanted to take her out to the movies with me and talk all night until we both drop from the exhaustion."

She nodded, vision thick with frustrated tears again.

Ryota stepped forward and raised a finger to catch the tear forming at the end of her right eye, and took her into another embrace. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so harsh. I just came back and seeing you like that… Well it's safe to say you've had me at a loss of what to do."

She embraced him back. "I'm sorry… for making you worry."

Ryota dropped a kiss on her head. "Is it your end of shift now?"

She was about to answer when – _Aoyama Masako-sensei, you are now needed in operating room 5. We repeat, Aoyama Masako-sensei, you are now needed in operating room 5._

Masako made a face. "Does that answer your question?"

Ryota laughed, unable to resist the charm on his best friend's face. "Go. I'll be waiting for you in the lobby."

Masako wanted to protest – "But I'm guessing it's another emergency surgery, so I don't know how long it would take – "

Ryota pushed her to the direction going to the west wing of the hospital. "Go. I can wait. I've done this countless of times before. I can always entertain myself."

"Ryota – "

"Go, or no ice cream later."

And those words convinced Masako to listen to the blonde and finally leave him there to wait.

As he stared at her retreating form, he wondered how long he can continue acting like this when he knew that his time with her was just borrowed and actually limited.

 _Hurry up and find her, you idiot. Before you really lose her._

* * *

He was a man who rarely loses his composure.

But when he does, all hell breaks loose.

He slammed a folder down into his worktable, ignoring the multiple flinches his action had inspired with the ten or more butlers who were currently of service to him.

"You're claiming that you saw Kise Ryota in Sapporo and you were unable to tail him?" He hissed angrily, eyes flashing as he stood up, running his hands through the vibrant color of red locks, bright against the afternoon sunlight the windows of his office were allowing to permeate inside. "What was he, an unidentified apparition or something?"

"No, Seijuro-sama, of course not. But he was smart, he must have known that someone will be sent to tail him – he just disappeared before any of us were able to confirm if it was really him." The head butler, the elderly Hasegawa-san who knew him the most since his childhood days, was the only one brave enough to reason out.

" _That man_ has thought this out. I'm sure he was the one who had informed Kise to be on guard. Of all the years I have known that idiot, he was never one to be careful." Akashi Seijuro snarled, hands curling into fists, and he was itching to hit someone. _Any_ one. Preferably an elder man who was the cause of all his problems.

"I think it's time that we give up on this, Seijuro-sama. Your father – "

" – is the cause of all this and I am willing to bet this entire corporation that he was enjoying this little game of hide-and-seek." Seijuro snarled once more, nails digging into the palms of his hands in deep and unexplained anger. "First, my mother. Now _her_. Is it any wonder that I grew up like this?" He ranted, the perfect mask of indifference and calm which he wore cracking, allowing them to see a bit under the cold façade of the current head of one of the giant business conglomerates of Japan.

The head butler cleared his throat, possibly to remind him of that same fact. "Leave us for a moment." He commanded the other butlers, who all stood up in one fluid motion, bowed deeply and took their leave one-by-one. "Seijuro-sama, we have been searching for her for over a year now. For all we know, your father may have already shipped her out of the country without her being aware of it."

The mask cracked and totally fell away, as Seijuro stopped his pacing and dropped onto his huge swivel chair, resisting the urge to wring his hands out and pull at his hair. He did rub his temples though, feeling a headache coming on. Only around Hasegawa-san can he act like this, as Akashi Seijuro, not as the current head of the Akashi Corporation. "I'm well aware of that fact, Ojiisan. But do you expect me to just up and leave things like this? No. I will not. I will not give that man the satisfaction of winning over me. Not now, not ever."

The elderly head butler sighed, knowing and well aware that his charge has not been raised to the man he is now to accept defeat that easily. "Seijuro-sama, you need to rest."

"I _am_ resting." He retorted frustratedly, gesturing to the clean worktable in front of him, and still the elderly butler shook his head. He went to the small kitchen connected to his master's office, (perks of being a business tycoon,) finding the tea he had prepared earlier to have been ready. Carefully pouring his master's favorite tea in the porcelain teacup, he went back to the ex-Miracle and set it down in front of him.

"I meant proper rest. You have not slept properly." The elderly man chided softly, offering him the tea he had made.

"How do you expect me to be able to sleep properly when I am no closer to finding her now?" Still he took the tea being offered to him, muttering his thanks. "She's been missing for over a year. If I didn't know that man, if I didn't know he wasn't involved or anything, I would have taken it as her avoiding me, done being with me and all the complications of being together with _me_. But something was unnatural even from the start of her disappearance, it's like she just literally _disappeared_ from the face of the earth. Like her existence was erased. Too perfect, never leaving any trace. I refuse to believe that man doesn't have anything to do with her disappearance." His fists clenched around the teacup he was gripping with deadly force.

"Seijuro-sama…"

Seijuro slammed the teacup down into the table, bloody irises blazing with barely contained fury at the man who had been fond of ruining any happiness he had ever had in his life. He had, at one point in his life, understood why that man had acted the way he did, why he had raised him to never accept defeat, and why, _why_ , he had never allowed him to stand still even when his mother had died. But this was a whole new level of different, this was taking it too far.

Too. Damn. Bloody. Far.

"If he thought I will let this go, he was bloody mistaken." Seijuro continued, the elderly man listening to his monologue without complaints, "If there is one mistake he had ever committed in his life, is that he had raised me like this – to never accept loss. Well, I will not allow him to hide her from me."

"I will find my fiancée. Kise is the key. And when I do, there will be hell to pay."

* * *

 _ **So you might kill me with another Author's note, but yeah, I know it's a short chapter, even for me. They might probably get longer as the story progresses, I don't know. But thank you for reading, and I do hope to hear from you by clicking that little button below to review.**_

 _ **Till next time, Lovelies~~**_

 _ **With all my love,**_

 _ **Michiko**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**This is a filler chapter – apologies for this. I promise I'll get on with the plot – as soon as the story will call for it. This is focused mainly on Masako's relationship with Kise.**_

 _ **Thank you for those who followed this and saw the potential. I hope do not disappoint you.**_

 _ **Let's go to the story shall we?**_

* * *

 _My love for you is as deep_  
 _As the boundless seas and oceans,_  
 _As limitless_  
 _As the farthest reaches of our beautiful horizon._  
 _Tonight I sing of my love for you,_  
 _And I will not tire doing so_  
 _In all the days I shall live._  
 _Do not fear, nor doubt this feelings I offer you_  
 _Fair maiden,_  
 _For I fall only once,_  
 _And like the fire born of a Phoenix's rise from ashes,_  
 _These selfish feelings of mine will not abate,_  
 _Until you grace me with your beautiful smile_  
 _And look upon me favorably_  
 _To accept my love._

* * *

"Eep-!"

Masako was able to snap back in time as to avoid the sudden squirt of blood which sprouted from the patient's intestine area, but she still pretty much got sprayed a decent amount on one side of her face. "What the hell are you doing? What did you just touch!?" She scolded the operating doctor she was assisting in this surgery, glancing at the monitor showing the patient's current heart beat status – which was now beeping at an absurd rate. Said head surgeon didn't respond to her question, and she knew they would be all be dead if no one will take the lead from him.

"Give me the French 20."

One of the assisting nurses handed her the said instrument, but the other surgeon grasped her hand before she could do anything. "I will do it. I am the head surgeon here, in case you're forgetting."

"Then hurry up and move before you do more damage!" She snarled angrily, sweat coating her forehead as she wiped off the blood from earlier on the sleeve of her medical gown.

The surgeon glared at her but decided not to say anything in response.

It was only fifty minutes later when she finally got out of the operation room, exhausted, offended and unbelievably annoyed.

"That spineless man. Why does he keep biting on more than what he can chew? The idiot!" She removed the hospital gown she was wearing and tossed it to the trash, and all but ripped off her surgical mask as she also dumped it on top of the hospital gown she threw with more force than what was originally necessary. "Why does he keep on pretending as if he knows everything? He wanted to be the one to lead that surgery? He can do it? He doesn't even want to admit he needs our help! To hell with his big useless ego!" She ranted in anger, clutching and running a hand through her hair in exasperation which she had tied back in a messy bun.

"Now, now doc. You'll ruin your beauty just by thinking of that man." One of her good friends and excellent nurses in their hospital, Aihara Seira, followed her out, also tossing her things to the trash. "I was nervous earlier, to tell you the truth. But since you're there, I managed to relax and go with the flow. It all worked out because you're there." She held her shoulder soothingly, gracing her with a gentle smile.

Despite of her irritation, she lifted her head to her friend's direction and offered her a smile in response, albeit a weaker one due to annoyance. "That's comforting and everything, but don't you think that's something we should worry about? What if I wasn't there? Kami-sama, I shudder to think of what will happen to the patient." She attempted to joke, but her friend just laughed out loud.

"That's for the hospital to worry about. Oh, and the medical association – I mean, seriously, how did he even get his license?" They both laughed, feeling enough satisfaction from trash-talking their arrogant ass of a colleague. "So you shouldn't be worrying about it, like I'm saying, because Masako, honestly, I think you should be worrying about something else right now." Seira motioned with her lips to the direction they were both heading to, which Masako had yet to notice.

They had both arrived back into the lobby while walking earlier, and Masako immediately spotted a head of blonde hair amongst the sea of girls who had, by the looks of it, swarmed into the lobby. All of different ages.

"Unbelievable. It's as if a day hasn't passed from his modeling and basketball career. Ne, Masako, are you sure Kise-kun isn't courting you or something?" Seira joked, to which Masako flushed, but laughed it off.

"No, no. I'm not Ryo's type. We've been around each other long enough to know that it's not going to work out, even if we do go on a relationship."

"Says the one who hasn't ever allowed me to try courting her." A somewhat offended voice joined their conversation.

Masako turned around and jokingly socked the blonde man on the arm. "I see you've shaken your fans off. Done signing their panties?"

"Masakochii!" Ryota scolded in a manner of a mother horrified with her daughter's manners. "Aiharacchi, I apologize for her lack of delicacy. Really." He turned to the raven-haired woman who was laughing her head off.

"What are you, my mother?" Masako rolled her eyes jokingly at the blonde.

Ryota sighed. "But it's also true Aiharacchi, of what I've said earlier. She was the one who turned me down before I could even try to ask her out."

"I'll only tie you down, Ryota, and we both know that is something you hated." Masako retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. "You've said that before, and I also know how important your modeling career and basketball is to you. Besides, how do you think will I want to be with you when you have insane fan girls? Jeez, do you remember what happened the first time we showed up at school together? I nearly shaved a couple of girls' heads back then because they didn't want to leave me alone and wouldn't rest about the 'Stay away from our Kise you bitch!' thing. I did want to live until sixties back then, thank you very much."

She was so busy ranting her point that she didn't notice the fond smile on Ryota's lips. Sometimes, when she talks like this, he finds it hard to believe that she was missing a few of her memories.

"Well, that's a shame then." Seira responded after a few more laughs. "But you did have it hard, didn't you? Being friends with someone like Kise-kun here must've been sort of a nightmare."

"Even you, Aiharacchi!?" Ryota jokingly wailed at a corner, as the two girls broke once more into laughs.

"Well I can see why you don't want to be his girlfriend. To think someone like Kise-kun has commitment issues." Seira pointed out once she had calmed down enough from laughing. "That's somewhat of a shame."

"Well I'm sorry for thinking that the girls back then didn't really see me as Kise Ryota." The blonde model-athlete-turned-pilot responded somewhat icily. "Fans are nice, but there's no denying the fact that they don't really know me."

"And only I do? Ooohh. That's somewhat of an honor even for me, Ryo." Masako, in an attempt to comfort the taller blonde, leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek, making him flush, if somewhat, pleasantly. "Now, I think we've dragged out this conversation about _our_ supposed almost-relationship for too long. I'm waiting for that movie and ice cream, or was that just an attempt to get me to work earlier?" She leaned back, once again pouting, her lower lip pushed out in a joke.

Ryota leaned over and bonked her on the head. "How about you start getting your things, Sherlock? I'll be ready when you are."

Grinning, Masako blew him a kiss and linked arms with Seira. "Well then, I'll see you later, love? Just a few more minutes, I promise."

He waved them away, grinning as the two women strutted away. "Sure, sure. Don't take too long, or no ice cream!" He called out laughingly, and Masako turned back to him, sticking her tongue out.

Ryota sighed. "Keep that tongue where it belongs, Masakochii, or I just might not be able to control myself." He muttered to himself, smiling almost sadly at her retreating back.

* * *

Masako threw her head back and laughed out loud, unable to control herself from doing so. Beside her, Ryota was grinning, broad shoulders shaking in silent laughter as well as they both sat in front of the forty-inch television mounted on the wall.

"He just made my day. Ahahaha. Ah, the things Gru can do." She slurped on her ice cream happily, her favorite vanilla flavor with lots of chocolate bits – just the way she liked it. For all the things that Kise Ryota cannot do, she was thankful that he was a genius when it came to making her favorite ice cream.

"I'm actually expecting something much more complicated than this, though." Ryota was slurping on his own ice cream – rocky road with lots of marshmallow, - responded, referring to the movie they were watching. He was a good sport, and does not really mind watching cartoon movies, knowing Masako's love for it, even though… "But we ended up just watching Despicable Me 2 for Chrissakes." He murmured, almost sounding peeved.

Masako straightened up, bumping his shoulder with hers – making her groan with just the simple action. Ryota's shoulder felt like a solid wall of rock, (which then meant that it was pure muscle,) and there was a high possibility she might end up having a bruise just from it. "Jeez, what the hell were you doing with that shoulder? Are you lifting weights every day or what? But back to my point – "

"- what point? You haven't made one yet ~ " He cut her off slyly in a sing-song voice, grinning teasingly.

She bonked him on the head. "What do you mean that we _just_ ended up watching Despicable Me 2? You're here with me. You, who were always busy just with your pilot duties, who were always out of the country just to visit different exotic places because of your job, _is_ here with me now, spending the night with his best friend, finally having some sort of break from all the stress your job has to offer and is pigging out with our favorite ice creams. How dare you write that off as 'just'?" Masako scolded him, half-jokingly and half-seriously, huffing out a breath in annoyance.

Ryota chuckled, but the sound came off as half-hearted. Luckily or perhaps unluckily, Masako didn't notice.

"Sometimes I wonder why I didn't see you first."

Masako frowned, obviously confused as to what he meant. "Huh?"

"Nothing kitten. I said you're right, I should appreciate finally being back home, for instance. Those tropical lands aren't really just for me." He fibbed, just to draw Masako's attention away from his side-comment.

"That's right you just came home from Hawaii right? Ooooh, I've always wanted to visit that place, I just lurv their beaches! Ne, ne, Ryo, how was Hawaii? I bet you wasted no time in shag – "

"Masakochii!" Ryota grimaced in protest, jumping to cover her mouth, ignoring her lips which were still full of cream from the treat they were having as he looked around in a manner of someone checking if there were kids who overheard them, more scandalized than amused at the direction their conversation was taking.

Masako ripped his hand away from her mouth, then looked at him as if he was an alien who had just dropped from outer space or something. "What the hell are you acting like a virgin for? It's not as if you were still one – "

" – Sheesh! Don't say it out loud, you idiot! What the hell's your problem? Even if I am not exactly pure and innocent, - stop grinning for crying out loud! – it's not as if that's the only thing I think of, you know! Why are you doing this to me? Hell, why do I _even_ end up acting like _I'm_ the woman here?!" Ryota exclaimed, frustratedly, and unable to hold back any longer, Masako burst into laughter, the movie already quite forgotten in the background as she continued laughing, and despite of how he was itching to strangle her he couldn't help but cool down and crack a half-smirk, his best friend's laughter contagious.

"Oh, I've really missed you, Ryo." Masako wiped the tears that had formed in her eyes, clutching her stomach all the while. "With no one around to pester me to act more according to my gender I was really out of control. Just ask Seira." She laughed, and Ryota's eyes widened, his ears burning at the thought of a thousand things that could have come out of her mouth while he wasn't there to make a big deal out of it.

"Why what the hell have you been spouting? Nope, never mind, I changed my mind. I think it's better for my sanity not to know what kind of things you've been up to and spouting while I'm gone." He finished the last bit of his ice cream, face palming in surrender.

Masako has always been like that. From the moment he had known her, all his previous assumptions about her had been way off the mark.

She was… simply put, beautiful. Not beautiful _beautiful,_ the kind that makes people want to worship her like a goddess or something, or like the kind which graces the magazines for people to ogle at, but beautiful in a way that you never get tired of looking at her, and that she just simply grows to be more beautiful as you look at her. She had almond-shaped peridot-green eyes, fair skin which almost seemed to glow, pert nose and a beautiful shade of pink, heart-shaped lips. Honestly, he wasn't wondering why _that person_ has it hard for her, although that's not the only thing which was adorable about her.

He had simply thought she was just another beautiful girl who was an airhead – a lethal combination which was common in the kind of technology they had nowadays, - and he couldn't have been more wrong about her.

 _'Don't let her beauty fool you,'_ he remembered one of his teammates telling him, - Morimaya-senpai was it? _'She'll eat you alive'._

The reason for that statement, was, despite of being known in Kaijo as a beauty, she was also well-known for being possessed of a sharp tongue and quick temper that she was nicknamed 'The Madonna with a whip,' her being known for giving anyone, and he meant _anyone_ a piece of her mind be they seniors or not, especially as she was a part of the school's disciplinary committee, which was the same committee Kasamatsu-senpai had been a part of.

He had honestly thought that she was just another wannabe who was fond of kicking people all over the place, (and no, he did not mean Kasamatsu-senpai,) due to the power she wielded as the elected chairwoman of the disciplinary committee, but he was proven wrong once more when they finally met.

Although that would probably be a story for an another time.

Realizing that he had fallen silent, Masako looked at him worriedly, her laughter finally subsiding, and waved a hand in front of his face. "Ryo? You okay?"

Ryota shook his head mentally and decided to frown at her. "No. I'm thinking of ways of how to get you to control that mouth of yours, no matter if it's pretty." He added cheekily in the end, which made Masako flush.

"Shut up, Golden Boy." She snapped, making him, in turn, laugh. "Don't change the subject though, I really am curious regarding this latest trip you've had. You owe me the story!"

Ryota sighed and gave in. "Fine. What do you want to know anyway? It's not like Hawaii's that interesting."

"You have to do better than that to discourage me." Masako said matter-of-factly. "C'mon, Ryota, tell me where you went. I know you're the pilot for that trip and everything, but I also know you were at least given enough time to go sightseeing. Pretty please?"

And so Ryota told her of the places that he had gone to in the short amount of time that they, the crew, had been allowed to go sightseeing, - luckily he had taken pictures of some of the beaches the crew did go to and Masako was squealing in delight, - and described to her as much as he can about the heat and the humidity of the area, and all the ladies who nearly killed him when they were asking for his pictures – they were almost no different from Japanese girls as he had described them – which nearly killed Masako in laughter.

He was in the middle of describing how one of his co-pilots ended up being stuck on the sand as he was buried halfway to his chest when he realized that Masako was no longer listening to him.

Her eyes were already closed, her breathing deep and evened out – which let him know that she really was totally knocked out already, - but there was a ghost of smile on her lips and she was hugging one of her couch pillows tightly. Ryota couldn't help but smile at the cute picture she made, and he couldn't resist tucking in a stray strand of chocolate brown hair behind her ear.

His gaze was drawn to her lips, which were unconsciously pushed out in a pout. He felt himself swallow.

 _No. You liar._

Just as the thought flashed in his mind, he was overcome by guilt. He had no right to feel this way over her, not when she was missing such an integral part of her life, - a part which Ryota himself refuses to confuse her with, half because he wanted to follow the doctor's advice of not pushing her to recall it, and half because he didn't want to be the one to remind her. He didn't know if he couldn't bear the thought of her disappearing completely in his life.

Ryota shook his head once more, as if doing that would help in clearing out his thoughts, and decided to get on with the cleanup. Before that though…

He carefully shut the television off first (which had been totally forgotten throughout their conversation,) and placed an arm around Masako's shoulder carefully so as not to jostle her to waking up, and wrapped his other arm around her knees, lifting her up bridal style. He was thankful that she was a heavy sleeper, especially that she had come home exhausted from work. He carried her effortlessly to his room upstairs, opening the door quickly with one hand, and laying her down on the queen-sized bed.

He stared at her. Sometimes, moments like these, (this is not the first time Masako had to spend the night in his apartment,) which he never fails to use to his advantage, makes it really hard for him to believe that she was sick, missing an integral part of her life, or a chip as she liked to call it. But if there was one thing that he was thankful for when this happened to her, was that he was given the chance to make up for his crude behavior towards her when they first met by being allowed to take care of her.

He leaned down and wrapped a blanket around her, laying a kiss on her forehead.

"I will protect you from everyone, Masakochii. Even from him." He vowed to her silently, turned, and stepped out of the room before he did something he would regret later in the morning.

He started cleaning up the mess from earlier, - when she cooked dinner and he made the dessert, - that he almost missed the sound of his phone ringing. He glanced confusedly on the wall clock he has above the door – it read 11:30 pm.

 _Who on earth will be calling in this hour?_

He picked up his phone, staring at the blue screen – which had a picture of Masako as the wallpaper (not guilty, Masako _was_ the one who changed it,) and wondering who on earth was indeed, calling.

 _Calling – unknown number,_ it was flashing up to him.

Shrugging and thinking nothing of it, he swiped the screen to receive the call. "Moshi moshi?"

 _"Hisashiburi desu ne, Kise. Or should I say Ryota once more?"_

His eyes widened, then narrowed into slits, knowing and recognizing the authoritative voice on the other end of the line.

"Akashichii. To what do I owe this… pleasant surprise?"

* * *

 _ **Please do not kill me. I did not mean that to be a cliff-hanger.**_ _**Updates will be irregular though, because yeah, work is killing me. As soon as I find the time and my muse is calling out to me, I will update.**_

 _ **See you in the next one beloved readers!**_


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